Mixing without wrecking it
Angle the vial, run the water slowly down the inside of the glass, then leave it alone for a few minutes. Do not fire the stream into the powder and never shake it. If something is still undissolved after five minutes, roll the vial gently between your palms.
Why technique matters at all
Peptides are fragile molecules. Mechanical force, particularly the shearing and foaming you get from shaking, can damage them. You cannot see the damage, which is what makes it easy to be careless and never know.
The whole technique is about adding energy as slowly as possible and letting time do the work instead.
The method
Let both vials reach room temperature
Cold slows dissolution and makes you impatient, which is when people start shaking. Fifteen minutes on the counter is enough.
Wipe both stoppers and let them dry
The alcohol works as it evaporates. Wiping it straight off does very little.
Draw your water and angle the vial
Hold the powder vial at roughly forty-five degrees so there is a long stretch of glass wall above the powder.
Run the water down the wall
Aim at the glass, not the powder, and push slowly enough that it trickles rather than jets. The water should pool underneath and creep up into the powder.
Withdraw and leave it
Set it upright and walk away for two to five minutes. Most of it dissolves on its own with no help from you.
Roll, do not shake
If anything remains, hold the vial between your palms and roll it slowly, like warming a cigar. Then leave it another minute.
Foam is the warning sign. A head of bubbles on the surface means you introduced too much energy. It usually settles, but treat it as feedback on your technique rather than a normal part of the process.
Reading the result
A properly reconstituted vial is clear and colourless, with nothing floating and nothing settled on the bottom. Cloudiness, visible strands, a gel-like texture or particles that will not go into solution all mean something is wrong, and no amount of further mixing improves it.
Questions
- How long should it take to dissolve?
- Usually under five minutes at room temperature, often under one. Anything that is still sitting there after ten minutes of patience and gentle rolling is unlikely to dissolve at all.
- Can I swirl it?
- A slow swirl is fine and is roughly equivalent to rolling. The thing to avoid is anything sharp: shaking, flicking or inverting hard.
- There is foam on top. Have I ruined it?
- Probably not, and it usually settles within a few minutes. Add the water more slowly next time.